HBO confirmed Thursday that Season 3 of “True Detective” will be set in the Ozarks and star Mahershala Ali (who won an Oscar for his performance in “Moonlight”) as state police detective Wayne Hays.

Ali’s involvement in the series, though not his role, was announced previously.

Season 1 of the series, which starred Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, was highly praised by critics, while Season 2 was widely panned.

Creator Nic Pizzolatto is the sole writer for "True Detective" Season 3, except for one episode he co-wrote with David Milch (“Deadwood”), Variety reported. Director Jeremy Saulnier (“Green Room,” “Blue Ruin”) has signed on, too.

McConaughey and Harrelson will be executive producers for Season 3.

Season 2 averaged 2.61 million viewers, but its finale had nearly 800,000 fewer watchers than Season 1’s finale.

“I'm tremendously thrilled to be working with artists at the level of Mahershala and Jeremy,” Pizzolatto said, Variety reported. “I hope the material can do justice to their talents, and we’re all very excited to tell his story.”

Besides “Moonlight,” Ali also appeared in Netflix's “Luke Cage,” “Hidden Figures,” and “House of Cards.”

“True Detective” currently has no premiere date and has not yet begun production. HBO said that Season 3 “tells the story of a macabre crime in the heart of the Ozarks, and a mystery that deepens over decades and plays out in three separate time periods.”

Season 1 of the show was set in Louisiana, and Season 2 was set in Los Angeles and starred Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn, and Rachel McAdams.

Twitter users joked about the flop of Season 3 and looked forward to a new season with different actors.

PLOT REVEALED:
True Detective Season 3 centers around the search for the guy who killed the entire series by making True Detective Season 2.